The present invention relates generally to a method and system for assessing adjustment factors used in a process for testing or monitoring an operational system. The present invention further relates to a method and system for updating these adjustment factors if needed or desired as the result of such an assessment.
Operational systems are frequently tested or monitored to determine whether they are within operating norms. The operational system being tested or monitored can be a device or piece of equipment such as a gas turbine engine or a process such as a manufacturing process for the gas turbine engine. Unfortunately, there can be variations in the conditions under which the testing or monitoring is carried out that are unrelated or extraneous to the operational system. These variations in conditions include differences unique to the testing or monitoring location, differences in environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, pressure, relative humidity, etc.) at the testing or monitoring site, differences in the equipment used in carrying out the testing or monitoring process, and like factors.
Such variations in conditions can impact the reliability and reproducibility of data generated during the testing or monitoring of the operational system. In addition, there can be differences in the design of the operational system (e.g., a different component design) that need to be taken into account to ensure that the testing or monitoring process generates reliable, reproducible and comparable data. As a result, the testing or monitoring process will usually need to incorporate adjustment factors to compensate for these variations in testing or monitoring conditions (or variations in operational system design) to ensure that the data obtained is reliable, reproducible and comparable, no matter where (or when) it is generated.
While adjustment factors can be used to account and compensate for known causes of variation in the testing or monitoring process, these adjustment factors can themselves be subject to variations over time. Indeed, due to a better understanding of the effect of these adjustment factors, modifications or changes in existing testing or monitoring configurations, the use of additional testing or monitoring, or other unknown or unquantified influences, these adjustment factors can require updating, improvement, alteration and/or correction.
Updating, improving, altering and/or correcting these adjustment factors requires an understanding of what can impact and influence these factors and can cause them to vary over time. Unfortunately, the average person responsible for testing and monitoring these operational systems may not have the expertise to determine or understand what can impact and influence variations in these adjustment factors. In particular, they may need to have guidance in assessing these adjustment factors and in determining when (and if) these adjustment factors need to be updated, improved, altered and/or corrected so that the testing or monitoring process will provide reliable, reproducible and comparable data on the operational system.
Even when the testing and monitoring process is performed by knowledgeable personnel (i.e., those having significant experience or expertise with these adjustment factors), they can employ different techniques that produce varying and inconsistent results, or similar results reported in varying styles or fashions. This may cause the reviewer(s) of these results to come to different, inconsistent and potentially incorrect conclusions. In addition, the techniques adopted by these various experts for dealing with these adjustment factors, and especially what impacts or influences these factors, may not be equally efficient, and may not provide a standardized approach that can yield repeatable and reproducible results in an efficient manner.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method and system for assessing adjustment factors used in a process for testing or monitoring an operational system that: (1) determines whether the current adjustment factors need to be changed; (2) provides the ability to change and update these adjustment factors if needed or desired, and to reliably validate and incorporate the updated factors into the testing/monitoring process; (3) provides the ability to guide the average user on how to utilize this method and system without the need of significant expertise in or understanding of adjustment factors, and (4) provides a standardized, efficient and optimized approach to assessing such factors, even for those who have significant experience and expertise with such factors, as well as the testing and monitoring process impacted and influenced by these factors.
The present invention relates to a method and system for assessing whether adjustment factors used in a process for testing or monitoring an operational system need to be updated or changed, as well as changing and updating these adjustment factors if needed or desired. The method of the present invention comprises the steps of and the system of the present invention is capable of:
(a) selecting at least one current adjustment factor used in the testing or monitoring process;
(b) selecting data relevant to the at least one current adjustment factor;
(c) analyzing the relevant data to generate analysis results for determining whether the selected at least one current adjustment factor needs to be changed;
(d) collecting the analysis results so that a determination can be made as to whether the selected at least one current adjustment factor needs to be changed;
(e) determining from the collected results whether the selected at least one current adjustment factor needs to be changed;
(f) if the selected at least one current adjustment factor needs to be changed, changing the selected at least one current adjustment factor to provide at least one updated adjustment factor;
(g) optionally, but preferably, validating the at least one updated adjustment factor in the testing or monitoring process to provide at least one validated adjustment factor;
(h) optionally, but preferably, incorporating the at least one validated adjustment factor into the testing or monitoring process.
The method and system of the present invention provides a number of benefits and advantages in assessing adjustment factors used in a testing or monitoring process for the operational system. The method and system of the present invention allows an accurate and statistical approach to determining whether the current adjustment factors used in the testing or monitoring process need to be changed and updated so that the testing or monitoring process will provide reliable, reproducible and comparable data on the operational system. If the adjustment factors do need to be changed and updated as a result of the assessment, the method and system of the present invention allows for these updated factors to be reliably validated and incorporated in the testing or monitoring process. The method and system of the present invention can also be set up to guide the average user through the various steps in assessing these adjustment factors, even if the user does not have significant expertise in or understanding of adjustment factors. The method and system of the present invention can also provide a standardized, efficient and optimized approach to assessing such factors, even for those who have significant experience and expertise with such factors.